Combination boat fender and life preserver



March 27, 1962 L. DOLLINGER 3,026,547

COMBINATION BOAT FENDER AND LIFE PRESERVER Filed Aug. 17, 1959 IN V EN TOR.

l3 LEWIS L. DOLLINGER FIG. 5 BY i anzastt Patented Mar. 27, 1962 3,026,547 COMBINATION BOAT FENDER AND LIFE PRESERVER Lewis L. Dollinger, Rochester, N.Y., assignor to Dollinger Corporation, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 17, 1959, Ser. No. 834,136 2 Claims. (Cl. 9-312) This invention relates to boat fenders, and more particularly to a combination boat fender and life preserver. The sport of boating is becoming increasingly popular as a family pastime. Many of the boats are equipped with cabins having eating and sleeping facilities which, in some instances, are located below the main deck.

All boats are required to carry life preservers. Since the deck space in these cabin type boats is limited, life preservers are usually stored in the eating or sleeping compartment below decks or out of the way.

Heretofore, if a boat should spring a leak, or get caught in rough seas and begin to ship water and sink, it was necessary for the passengers to grope their way into the cabin or compartment to get the life preservers. In such situations there often occurred chaos and panic with several passengers attempting to enter or leave a small compartment at the same time to reach or leave with the life preservers.

Furthermore, conventional ring or doughnut type life preservers, which are sometimes supplied on boats of this type, have the objection that a person must hang on to the life preserver in order to stay afloat. Many times there are children aboard, or passengers who are sick or infirm, and who are unable to hang onto these conventional life preservers when in the water. Often lives are lost because of this inability to stay in the life preserver.

Since cabin type boats usually have a large moment of inertia when in the water, they are usually equipped with boat fenders which may be suspended over the gunwales of the boat, to protect the hull from damage and to cushion the impact when docking the boat. When the boat is away from shore or the dock, these boat fenders are positioned inside the gunwales along the deck of the boat.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a boat fender which is so constructed that it can be used as an improved life preserver.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved combination boat fender and life preserver which will securely encircle a persons body regardless of the size of the person and will keep a person afloat without requiring the person to hang onto the life preserver.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent from the specification, the drawing, and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a boat provided with combination boat fenders and life preservers constructed according to one embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation on an enlarged scale of one of these combination boat fenders and life preservers;

FIG. 3 is a view partly in elevation and partly in section showing the combination boat fender and life preserver parted for use as a life preserver;

FIG. 4 is a view showing the combination boat fender and life preserver in use; and

FIG. 5 shows in cross section the manner in which the combination boat fender and life preserver encircles a persons body.

Referring to the drawing, by numerals of reference, denotes generally a combination boat fender and life preserver constructed according to one embodiment of this invention. This combination boat fender and life preserver is generally cylindrical in shape. It is made from a foam rubber material that is covered with a water proofing substance which permits it to remain buoyant. It is customary to suspend a plurality of these fenders 10 from hooks around the gunwales of a boat 15 by lengths of line 13.

Fender 10 comprises two, buoyant, half sections 11 and 12, respectively, which are similar in configuration, and which are semi-circular in cross section. These half sections have abutting plane axial surfaces 14. The members 11 and 12 are normally held together by two coil springs 16. Each of the springs 16 is stressed and is attached at opposite ends in recesses 22 and 24 in the members 11 and 12, respectively. The recesses 22 and 24 are in registry with one another when the axial surfaces 14 of the members 11 and 12 abut. The line 13, by which the fender may be suspended, may, if desired, be made of two pieces, one of which is attached to the part 11, and the other of which is attached to the part 12 so that the two parts 11 and 12 of the fenders may be pulled apart against the pressure of the springs 16 to the position shown in FIG. 3.

To use a fender 10 as a life preserver, the line 13 is merely unhooked from the boat, and the parts 11 and 12 separated against the pressure of the springs 16. The fender 10 is then either slipped over the head and under the arms, or slipped up over the feet to the waist. When the parts 11 and 12 are released, the springs 16 securely hold these members against a persons body B. After the person has been rescued or reached shore, he or she merely slips the fender 10 over his head, and the springs pull the parts 11 and 12 back together so that it again can be used as a boat fender.

It is apparent, that this combination boat fender and life preserver will fit all sizes of persons or animals without danger of their slipping out through the preserver. It is also apparent that if a person is unconscious, the preserver may be placed on the person with full assurance that he or she will remain afloat without losing the life preserver.

While the invention has been described in connection with a specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth, and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A combination boat fender and life preserver, comprising a generally cylindrical buoyant member, said buoyant member having two foam rubber parts separable from one another along an axial plane of said member, each of said parts being covered with a waterproofing substance and being semi-circular in cross section, and each of said parts having a plane axial surface extending continuously for the full axial length of a respective part, and resilient means attached to each of said parts in spaced recesses therein, and constantly urging said parts toward one another to hold said axial surfaces in substantially coextensive contact with one another along said axial plane of said member, whereby said two parts when in abutment may be used as a boat fender, said two parts being separable against the resistance of said resilient means to permit insertion of a persons body between said parts, whereby said members may serve as a life preserver.

2. A combination boat fender and life preserver, comprising two identical, resilient buoyant parts, each of said parts being substantially semi-cylindrical in configuration and having a plane, axial surface extending continuously for the full axial length of a respective part, resilient means connecting said two buoyant parts together and constantly urging said two parts toward one another to hold said plane, axial surfaces in substantially coextensive contact with one another, whereby said two contacting parts, when in contact, define a generally cylindrical member which may be used as a boat fender, said two buoyant parts being separable against the resistance of said resilient means to permit insertion of a persons body between said two parts whereby said two buoyant parts, when separated, cooperate for use as a life preserver, and wherein said two parts constitute the sole buoyant means in said life preserver.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 650,310 Dunning May 22, 1900 815,394 Wilkstrom Mar. 20, 1906 1,361,902 Porteous Dec. 14, 1920 10 2,434,641 Burns Jan. 20, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 16,247 Great Britain 1914 

